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YOUR RESOURCE PAGE FOR MY ORIGINAL
TWELVE DAYS ORNAMENT SERIES!On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to meeeeee...
ornament patterns! Yay!

This is a very popular series so I've created this page to give you lots of information about it all in one place!

I've always loved the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas song, so I designed this series of hand sewn folk ornaments for each of the twelve days, based on the original carol from 1780. It's a bit different than the modern version.

The twelfth day of Christmas

My true love sent to me

Twelve lords a-leaping,

Eleven ladies dancing,

Ten pipers piping,

Nine drummers drumming,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five gold rings,

Four colly birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves, and

A partridge in a pear tree.

This project started as a serial Christmas gift for my BFF Robyn (how patient you are, Robyn!) and has snowballed into a sewing pattern line. The handmade ornaments make wonderful gifts, individually or as a set!

Total number of patterns in the series:12Total number of ornaments in the series:15 (There are bonus ornaments in nos. 1, 6 and 12.)

HEY, WHY DID YOU DO IT OUT OF ORDER? The more modern version of the song is probably the one you are familiar with, but I used the original carolfrom 1780. The order differs a bit toward the end. It also has the term "colly bird" (old English term for black bird) as opposed to "calling bird", which came later. It's all good. The best thing about DIY is you can number your series any way you like, and make your colly bird in any colors you like!

WHERE TO BUY THE PATTERNS: You can purchase the patterns as downloadable PDFs. You download the patterns yourself after purchase, no waiting!
Purchase them singly or in discounted bundles at either my Etsy shop or my Craftsy store:

HELP! WHAT COLORS SHOULD I USE? Any colors you like! You can customize and use your own favorite wool felt and floss colors. I've seen Twelve Days ornament samples in every color imaginable (tagged on Instagram) and never one I didn't like. However, I know that picking colors can be intimidating and stressful to lots of folks. Worry no more! Here are two solutions:

BENZIE DESIGN FELT/FLOSS BUNDLES: I have worked with Renae at Benzie Design to personally select wool-blend felt color schemes for my ornaments. I've made sample ornaments in those colors so you can see what they'll look like (just scroll down the page). You can buy the bundles here!Scroll down to the end of this page to see my detailed Benzie felt and floss color key links so you can easily make ornaments that are like my samples.

FELT ON THE FLY KITS: Janet has put together 100% wool felt in pre-selected palettes for you along with stabilizer, stuffing, beads, pipe cleaners, and floss. Customize your kit with her handy options. Buy them here! See this blog post for more details on the FOTF kits.

They are easier than you think! If you can do basic hand stitches (backstitch, whip stitch and French knots) and can cut small pieces with precision, you can make these ornaments and make them well. There is no tediousembroidery or pattern tracing or transferring involved. The secret to making them is this Sulky stabilizer (now re-named Stick 'n Stitch) and my printable patterns:

Same stuff, new packaging and name!

Sulky Printable Stick 'n Stitch (aka Sticky Fabri-Solvy) is quite possibly one of the best products to ever happen to felt crafters. It's a sticky backed stabilizer that you can use in your printer or copier. It washes magically off with water, leaving no trace of itself. And it is readily available and affordable! (There's a handy list of sources in the Resources section of my patterns, even for folks outside the US.)

So, basically you print my pattern pieces directly on the stabilizer, peel off the backing, apply it to wool felt and stitch the embroidery designs directly through the stabilizer. Once the stabilizer is soaked away, you are left with a perfectly executed embroidery design on felt. No pin dot tracing. No guessing. No fading ink marks. No re-appearing ink marks. FANTASTIC.

Now you may be thinking, 'Wait a minute, you can't soak wool felt in water!' Oh, yes you can! The key to this process is to pre-shrink your wool felts the day before you start the project by simply soaking them in cold water and letting them air dry. It won't change the texture or thickness of the wool felt if you do it that way, and the pre-shrunk wool won't shrink when you soak off the stabilizer. I've tested this with wool-blend (wool + rayon) and also 100% wool felt and it works equally well for both. Are you excited yet? (Read more helpful tips for making these ornaments here.)

Photo courtesy of Benzie Design

BENZIE DESIGN FELT COLOR AND FLOSS GUIDE POSTS:
I worked with Benzie Design to curate SIX different wool felt color collections for my Twelve Days series of ornaments. Six color collections means two ornament patterns per color collection. Below are links to my color guide posts that provide specific Benzie felt color keys and also DMC floss color keys for the sample ornaments you see below:BUNDLE 1:

Beautiful ornaments!! I can't wait for the remainder of the set. I do have a question. Do you have an idea of approximately when the remainder of the set will be complete in 2017? The reason for this question is I'm in charge of the charity Christmas tree for our quilt guild and I'd love to make the entire set to use on it for 2017. Thank you for sharing your talent. You do beautiful work.

Hello, Melanie! Thank you! I can't give an exact date to you! Sorry! I'm just shooting for around mid 2017 but that may change! I am running behind schedule because of three family weddings this year, all out of town. :-)

Excited to start these and have pre soaked the felt... Worried about the dark red floss bleeding when I soak again to get the transfer paper off. Does that happen? I've had huge red floss bleeds in the past while blocking needlepoint, and don't want that to happen here.

Hi, ihs, I use DMC floss exclusively and have never had it bleed during a soak. I've used all colors (including bright red and dark red) and soaked it for various times and it's never left a stain. I always use cold water. I hope that helps! -L

I have pre soaked my first bundle of felt and was interested in the amount of shrinkage variation, so was worth while doing, Some colours bled ie. the darker yellow and bright pink. Keen to start but sent away for new sulky as bought some last year and (have not tested it) did not want trouble on first project. Any other Kiwis doing this?????

Hallo, Mum, are you in NZ? *waving across the ocean* I have had 122 orders from NZ on Etsy and just a cursory glance through gives me these cities: Stratford, Blenheim, Wellington, Aukland, Pokeno, Dunedin, Northcote, Rangiora...Maybe there's a craft site you can meet up on? I hope you find some other Kiwis to bond with over felt. For the presoak I don't soak it for long, just enough to get it completely wet so the bleeding can be kept to a minimum, then I hang it to dry. Great idea on the Sulky but do test your current batch when you get a chance. Sulky will gladly replace it if it is not good.

I just got one of your patterns on etsy the other day and started it yesterday. I am excited about the sticky fabric Solvy, but it will not come all the way off of my black felt. I even soaked it over night but there is still a visible glue looking residue. Any suggestions?

You are right, that is so weird! The 35% wool content is what my wool blend is. The only other time I've heard of it not rinsing off the felt was when the crafter was using acrylic felt. Since it's only happening with the black, it seems like maybe the felt could be the problem? You could also try a black that is 100% wool. I've used black many times with the stabilizer and have never had a problem.

Hi, Megan,Update! I've had another crafter say she has problems rinsing her stabilizer off because of hard water? If you have hard water in your area maybe try using bottled water for the soaking and rinsing part?

:-) Hello, Dianna! No worries. The whole series is not available yet. I'm still designing 9-12 but 1-8 are available in my shop. If you want to wait until late 2017 I should have 1-12 bundled after the series is complete. These are digital patterns, meaning you purchase the file, download it and then print it from home. If you want to purchase some for now and then get the rest next year, that's another option. I'm having a sale this weekend with code MMMSALE for 20% off in my etsy shop: mmmcrafts.etsy.comI hope that helps!

Hello....I am considering purchasing all the patterns and the felt to complete these ornaments. It's appears that the "Maids-A-Milking" is the most recent pattern. I am having difficulty determining the felt collection to purchase. Is it a repeat of one of the other collections already used?

I've just stumbled across these today and they are gorgeous! You're very clever to have designed them all. I'm going to have to buy the patterns for the first 6 today and start asap. I've got plenty of wool felt already, and a huge range of threads, so mine will be slightly different colours, but that will make them unique. Thank you for sharing these patterns.

These are fan-tab-u-lous! I just bought the first 6 patterns and curated felt packs. Can't wait to start. I already have every DMC floss ever made, so I purchased only the felt. Is there a resource to know which DMC colors match the felt? Does the Benzie felt blog have such a creature? I know you posted the colors for the decorative stitching, but I would be interested in the matching thread color numbers too! Am I being too lazy???? LOL Happy New Year! Can't wait for the next 6 designs to be released. I hope to give them as gifts to my wonderful Mom next year. I know when I show them to my girl friends they will be just as amazed at these lovelies as I am and get sucked into making them.

Hey, Liz! Thank you! :-) I usually just eyeball it. ha! Renae at Benzie may have a list of matching floss for her felt colors. I would check with her! Or you might be able to cheat and zoom in on her floss/felt bundles. She might also have those floss colors in the listing. Happy new year!

Hi Larissa .. I made 19 decorations from the first six patterns you made and handed them out to my Church Mice quilting group for Christmas. They hung on silver trees I made with a star attached and sitting in decorated pots. The girls loved them. One day I'll make the 12 for myself. Thanks Larissa.

Hi Larrisa,Do you sell your patterns as paper patterns for quilt shops? I own a quilt store in New Zealand and I would like to stock your patterns and do classes with your patterns. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi, TeganW,Not yet. That's my goal for 2018 after the Twelve Days series is complete. You can always conduct classes in the meantime by either purchasing a minimum number of patterns from me at a discount for each of your students OR they can purchase the pattern for themselves before attending. Via my Etsy shop only. Thanks!

Hello Larissa, I am addicted. I bought your 6 pack of patterns and within a few days of sourcing the solvy here in Australia, (not so easy to find!) got it now. I have printed off the patterns and have completed 1, 2 and 4 and on my way with 3. Just 5 and 6 to go. Will just have to do another set and try different colours. Just amazing. Thank-you so much for your creativity. Can't wait for all 12 patterns. But... the patterns are of such high quality and so easy to follow, they are worth the wait. Swans and maids are next on the list Cheers from down under!.

Hi, mazi, this has absolutely made my day! I'm so glad you love the making. That's my goal when I write a pattern, to make it come together as logically and easily as possible. Drummer is underway for you with the others to follow. I'm glad you landed some solvy there! Happy sewing!

So in love with your beautiful patterns. You have thought of everything in the directions - easy to make.Just finished first six, and now ordering next ones that are available. Can't wait for these last ones!

Hello Larissa, thank you so much for creating these little gems! The patterns are very easy to follow, and I enjoy your sense of humour. For your Canadian fans Bear Dance Crafts in British Columbia is an excellent online source for wool felt (she has a website and etsy shop). Please forgive the unsolicited advice, but regarding your self imposed deadline for the ornaments-I'd rather wait into 2018 for them than have you get burnt out.

Hi there! What a kind thing to say! Thanks for the encouragement. I am not burnt out yet! I'm determined to get this series just right AND have it done this year. My creative juices are churning - I typically work well under pressure so it's all good. haha! Thanks so much for the source for wool felt in British Columbia! Good to know.

I just bought the first pattern and am going to make them with my 13 year old daughter. We are very excited to start. I had a couple questions. Is there a specific font you used for the numbers on the back of the ornaments? I thought I might add our initials and the year before I print on the stabilizer. Also, is there a particular needle size you prefer to use? I've read through so many blogposts and thought i saw where you get wooden beads and cotton pipe cleaners but now I can't find it.Thanks for your help!. these patterns are just beautiful and the time and attention to detail you put in to making them really shows. -Lizzie

Hi, Lizzie!Thanks so much for your order! No, the font is kind of a custom one because I wanted a particular look and for it to work well with hand embroidery. If you switch to cursive for your initials and plain numbers for the year I think that would work well. There's not that much extra room on the back of all of them so simple would be better. All my patterns have the sources for felt, pipe cleaners and beads in the back of the pattern but you can also find them here:http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2016/12/tips-and-tools-for-making-your-twelve.htmlA size five embroidery needle works well for this series. Happy sewing!

These patterns are absolutely beautiful. I have a tradition of making ornaments for my children each year. I would absolutely LOVE to make ornaments like this that were a Christmas nativity scene. Maybe that can be a job for you this year...available in time for next Christmas. Let me know if you need a pattern tester. Renaequilts@gmail.com

Hi, Renae, your tradition sounds lovely! Thanks for the project suggestion but as you might imagine I have about 100 things already lined up in my head, all jostling for first place. I'll go forward with the one I can get most excited about! Thanks for your offer. :-)

I purchased some of your patterns via Craftsy a few years ago, haven't yet started to make. At that time had a paypal account but it was hacked so I closed it. how can I purchase without using paypal, would be happy to send check or money order or some other form of payment to you for more patterns. Want to begin the series for my family as gifts. I've done other hand made ornaments for a number of years for them and want this series as well. I just submitted my email for following your site. Love these wonderful pieces.

Hi, Kaym, you should still be able to access any of your purchased patterns via your Craftsy account! Just log in to your Craftsy account and look under your purchases. Since you'd like to avoid PayPal, for future purchasing you can go to my Etsy shop. Payment there can be made with several options, including credit cards. Happy sewing! Mmmcrafts.etsy.com

Hi, Analiisa, I use a size 5 embroidery needle for most of the embroidery and a regular sewing needle for the times when 2 strands is called for. They are all nice and sharp and I have no trouble going through the layers. New needle needed? They do dull after a time. I also recommend Thread Heaven, it can be a big help. http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2016/12/tips-and-tools-for-making-your-twelve.html

Hi, Dianna,Not yet. The series will be complete by the end of this month and there will be a bundle for 1-12. I don't sell the kits, just the patterns, but the kits are linked ^ up there in the post. Thanks!

Larissa: I replied to your email, but not sure if you get those. I just want to know if I can use 100% wool felt on the ornaments, or does the blend work better? My swan is finished and 1-6 are in the process; am very happy with the results. Such a fun project; can't wait to finish them all!

Hi, Judy! which email did you reply to? You can use either 100% or wool blends. Both work very well! 100% wool has nicer quality, but blends are more economical. I'm so glad you are enjoying the process!

Hello. Enough about me. Let's hear from you! If you have a question, I answer with a reply comment, so be sure to click the 'subscribe by email' link as you post your question to receive the answer via email. Thanks!

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NEW PATTERN! The final pattern in a series of twelve.

TWELVE DAYS ORNAMENT SERIES:

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Follower of Christ, wife of my hero, mom to two crazy girlies, home school teacher, pattern designer, paper cutter, sewing junkie, and voracious reader. I'm addicted to all things artsy and craftsy. And coffee.

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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be madeknown to God. And the peace of God, which surpassesallcomprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in ChristJesus. Phil. 4:6,7

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All personal images and words are copyrighted 2008-2017 Larissa Holland unless otherwise noted, and are not for commercial use.

Pinning and linking are very welcome! Thank you! It is NOT OK for you to copy and republish my posts, in part or whole. It is NOT OK to re-upload my printable files to any other server.

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